Sunday, May 19, 2013
Center for Democracy, JANM
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM

On May 19, 2013, the Japanese American Bar Association Educational Foundation (“JEF”), together with the Japanese American National Museum and the Japanese American Bar Association, will host a production of the play, Hold These Truths (formerly known as Dawn’s Light: The Journey of Gordon Hirabayashi). This one-man show, which was originally performed at the East West Player’s David Henry Hwang Theatre in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, California, features the conflict faced by Mr. Hirabayashi in reconciling the U.S. Government’s internment of people of Japanese ancestry with his Constitutional beliefs. The play attempts to present an understanding of America’s triumphs and failures. After the show, a one-hour panel discussion will be offered (CLE credits pending), along with light refreshments. Proceeds of the event will go towards funding scholarships for law school students.

Opening Remarks by Dr. Greg Kimura

PLATINUM SPONSORS INCLUDE:
Japanese American National Museum
Japanese American Bar Association

GOLD SPONSORS INCLUDE:
Sidley Austin LLP

SILVER SPONSORS INCLUDE:
Union Bank

TICKETS:

• Regular Ticket Price: $65 (for registration on or after May 1)
• Individual Sponsor: $100 (includes recognition at the event and premium seating (first come, first served, upon receipt of payment)
• Student/Recent Law School Graduates: $20
• Seniors (65+): $20

To Purchase Tickets By Mail, please send check payable to “JABA Educational Foundation” to:
JEF, 3828 West Carson, Street Suite 102, Torrance, CA 90503

To Purchase Tickets On-Line Via PayPal:

Ticket Options

Regular $65.00 USD Individual Sponsor $100.00 USD Student $20.00 USD Senior $20.00 USD

Sponsorship opportunities and program advertisements still available!
Contact Anne Inoue at jeflosangeles@gmail.com

Mark Yoshida, a board member, staff attorney at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and regular volunteer, shared his thoughts about the clinics: “JABA’s community education committee has given me the opportunity to use whatever expertise I’ve gained to help community members who can’t afford to hire an attorney. I’m pretty lucky that I’m with APALC and can serve our community through my day-to-day work, but it’s still a thrill for me to be able to provide service through JABA’s legal clinics where I can help more people who look like my mom and dad or sound like my grandparents did. The clinics are perfect opportunities for JABA members to use their knowledge, skills, and experience to provide a needed service to people with real legal problems. The clients are very appreciative of the time and effort the attorneys and other volunteers give. Plus, the pre-clinic lunch is always quite satisfying!”

If you are interested in joining the Community Education Committee or assisting at a clinic or law day, please contact co-chair Ken Tanaka or Kent Wakuta.

For questions, please contact Anne Inoue at jeflosangeles@gmail.com

The Gala keynote speaker, Senator Hirono, became Hawaii’s first female Senator, the first Asian-American woman to serve in the Senate and the first immigrant woman Senator when she was sworn in on January 3, 2013. Born in Japan, she immigrated to Hawaii with her mother and older brother under difficult circumstances. Senator Hirono attended the University of Hawaii before going on to graduate from Georgetown University Law Center. She served as State Deputy Attorney General, served two terms as Hawaii’s Lieutenant Governor and was elected to represent Hawaii’s Second Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006. In Congress, Senator Hirono has worked to help build a more sustainable food and clean energy economy for Hawaii. She is a strong advocate for Hawaii’s senior-citizens, children, military families and veterans.

Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender (APD) Janice Y. Fukai will be honored with this year’s Public Service Award for her contributions as the APD. She is the first Asian-American woman to serve as Department Head in the history of the County. After receiving her Bachelors and Juris Doctor Degrees from USC, she served as a Judicial Law Clerk for the late Robert M. Takasugi, Federal District Court Judge. In 1980, she joined the Public Defender’s Office, where she served for 13 years, until 1993 when she became Chief Deputy of the Alternate Public Defender’s Department, and was instrumental in the development and leadership of the Department. Ms. Fukai is the daughter of the late Mas Fukai, a long time public servant for both Gardena City and Los Angeles County.

Actor and community activist George Takei will be recognized for his contributions to the community and advocacy for human rights. While he’s best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu in the Star Trek television series, Mr. Takei was interned as a child in Arkansas and California during World War II, and has made significant contributions to help raise awareness of the Japanese American internment. President Clinton appointed Mr. Takei to the Japan – U.S. Friendship Commission, and the Japanese government awarded him the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, for his contribution to U.S. – Japanese relations. Mr. Takei, who married his husband Brad Takei at the Japanese American National Museum in 2008, is an outspoken activist for marriage equality and LGBT rights.

The JABA Gala is an annual celebration at which distinguished members in the community are honored and the JABA board is installed. Hundreds of lawyers, judges, elected officials, businesspersons, and members of the Japanese American community attend. Past speakers and honorees include U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, and the late U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye. JABA is the only Japanese American bar association in the country and one of the oldest Asian American bar associations. Platinum Sponsors include Greenberg Glusker, Perkins Coie LLP, and Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. Individual tickets are $125. For more information, contact Jeff Ikejiri at jeff.ikejiri@resourcesglobal.com or visit http://www.jabaonline.org/jaba-installation-awards-gala/.

The JABA Educational Foundation will also hold a raffle fundraiser, the proceeds of which will fund scholarships for deserving students in support of their legal education. To learn more about the Foundation or to make a donation, please contact Lynn Whitcher at lwhitcher@mcguirewoods.com.

Commissioner Phyllis Shibata

Commissioner Shibata has been serving as a Commissioner of the Los Angeles Superior Court since 2001. She currently is assigned to the direct calendar juvenile courts in Pomona. She has also been assigned to the domestic violence court, misdemeanor arraignments, felony preliminary hearings, and has handled many other assignments.

Prior to becoming a commissioner, she was a Los Angeles County Public Defender and a Riverside Country Public Defender. She also was in private practice as an attorney with the Witter and Harpole firm, handling civil, probate, family and tax law.

In addition to her varied legal background, Commr. Shibata is an involved member of the community. She is a member of National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), past Board Member of the Pomona NAMI affiliate. NAMI is a national non-profit that provides advocates on behalf of those suffering from mental illness and for their families.

Asked why she became a lifetime member, Commissioner Shibata said, “I’ve been a lawyer for 31 years. I’ve not had the time or ability to support the programs that JABA offers, but at least now I can contribute by offering financial assistance in recognition of the work JABA has done.”

On the personal side, Commr. Shibata has a 25 year old son who just graduated with an M.A. in Global Economics and works at Google. She also golfs, travels and is a member of the JABA Running Group.

Sandra Fujiyama

Sandra Fujiyama is a partner in the Intellectual Property Practice group in Sidley Austin’s Los Angeles office. Her practice focuses on intellectual property litigation, mainly patent litigation. She has worked on many high-stakes patent litigation cases ranging from stem cells to smartphone technology.

She also regularly counsels on intellectual property matters, prosecutes patent and trademark applications and deals with a wide variety of other issues relating to intellectual property.

Prior to joining the Sidley firm, Ms. Fujiyama was an associate at Lyon & Lyon LLP, where she also handled intellectual property matters.

She is also involved in the community. She has served as a board member of the Asian Pacific American Women’s Lawyer Alliance (Secretary 2012). She also sits on the board of the JABA Educational Foundation and serves as a member of the fundraising committee. She is also a board member for the California Bar Foundation and is a member of the scholarship committee.

She is a proud Bruin, having graduated from UCLA in three years with a Biochemistry degree.

Diana Nishiura

Diana Nishiura is Senior Counsel with the California Department of Financial Institutions (DFI). DFI is a financial regulator that licenses, closes and regulates the activities, operations and sale of securities of state chartered banks and also regulates state credit unions and transmitters of money.

Ms. Nishiura is a long time board member of both JABA and JEF (JABA Educational Foundation). She is also past president of JABA and JEF. JEF President Lynn Whitcher describes Ms. Nishiura as an “amazingly dedicated and tireless champion of JEF. We are forever grateful to Diana for all of her contributions. No matter what the project, she is always ready to pull up her sleeves and help get things done.”

In addition, she is a member of the board of directors for the Go For Broke National Education Foundation and a member of the board of the Venice Culver Chapter of the Japanese Americans Citizen League, Pacific Southwest District. She also serves as a member of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Finance Council and a member of her church’s School Endowment Fund Board of Trustees.

In her not so spare time, she tries to keep up with significant developments in US Constitutional Law, with an eye towards compiling a case book specializing in US Supreme Court cases that have impacted Asian Americans and other minority groups. She sang for 19 years in her church choir (until all of her other commitments took up all of her not so spare time).

Besides providing an opportunity for JABA members to complete the substance abuse MCLE requirement, the program, organized by JABA’s fantastic Programs Committee, opened the door for more collaborative efforts with other bar associations. We gratefully acknowledge cosponsorship of the program by the usual suspects (APABA, APAWLA, KABA, PABA, and SABA/Public Interest Foundation), and welcome new friends into the fold: Italian American Lawyers Assn, John M. Langston Bar Assn., Latina Lawyers Bar Assn, Lesbian and Gay Lawyers Assn., Puerto Rican Bar Assn., and the newly formed Thai American Bar Assn.

For more information about the totally awesome JABA Programs Committee, contact co-chair Alex Fukui (213-593-3192, alex.fukui@calbt.com) or other co-chair Kent Wakuta (kwakuta@gmail.com).

For more information, including instructions and the application form, please click here. We wish all of our applicants the best of luck.

NAPABA Trailblazer Awards

Hon. Kathryn Doi Todd is a Division Two Justice for the Second District Court of Appeal for the State of California. She is a third generation Californian, born in Los Angeles in January 1942. After being interned with her family during World War II, she returned to Los Angeles where she attended public school, graduating from Los Angeles High in 1959. She graduated from Stanford University in 1963 with a degree in history, and then attended Loyola Law School on an academic scholarship, graduating with honors in 1970. She served as Executive Editor of the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review and was awarded membership in Order of the Coif. She was honored as Loyola Law School Distinguished Alumna in 2003.

She conducted a general civil practice in Los Angeles, in Little Tokyo, until she was appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court by Governor Jerry Brown in 1978, the first Asian American woman judge in the country. Governor Brown appointed her to the Los Angeles Superior Court in 1981 where she served as presiding judge of the Juvenile Court from 1988 to 1989. She was appointed to the Court of Appeal by Governor Gray Davis in 2000.

Justice Todd has served on various committees and organizations created to improve the administration of justice, including the California Judicial Council, the policymaking body for our state courts, to which she was appointed by the Chief Justice of California. She has also served as a Trustee of the California Judges Foundation and the Los Angeles County Law Library, and Chair of the Judicial Council Appellate Advisory Committee.

Active in her community, Justice Todd has served as a member of the board of directors of the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center for over twenty years.

Hon. Kimi Kondo presides over the busiest court in the State of Washington overseeing a $25 million budget, 12.5 judicial officers, and over 200 employees. In May, Judge Kondo received a Washington State Association of Justice 20 Year Service Award. As a member of the City of Seattle Municipal Court for 22 years, Judge Kondo was the first Asian woman attorney to be appointed to the bench in the State of Washington. Judge Kondo’s colleagues on the Seattle Municipal Court recently elected her for a second time as the Presiding Judge for a two-year term ending in 2013. She served on the Washington State Gender and Justice Commission from 1994-2001. During her tenure, domestic violence summits were held throughout the state. She was involved in presenting a pioneering statewide judicial program on issues of bias towards women of color in the court system. Judge Kondo graduated from the University of Idaho and Seattle University School of Law (formerly University of Pugent Sound).

NAPABA Best Lawyers Under 40 Awards

Hon. Akemi Arakaki was appointed to the Los Angeles County Superior Court in December of 2010 at the age of 37. She is currently sitting in the Antelope Valley Delinquency Court. Prior to her appointment she served as a deputy public defender for the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office. She earned a J.D. from Loyola Law School and a B.A. from Wellesley College. In 2003 she was appointed by Governor Gray Davis to sit on the statewide Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs. She also served in 2004 as the president of the Japanese American Bar Association.

JABA celebrates the achievements of its members and congratulates them on this prestigious honor.

Fukai is the first Asian American woman to lead a Los Angeles County department. The Board of Supervisors praised her 2002 appointment and stated: “The current APD Chief Deputy Janice Fukai has been instrumental in the development and leadership of the Department. The entire Board has a lot of confidence in that office and her in particular.”

In 1993, the Board of Supervisors created the Alternate Public Defender’s Office to handle cases that conflict with the Public Defender’s Office. After what Fukai describes as “13 outstanding years with the Public Defender,” she transferred to the APD’s Office as its first Chief Deputy and faced the challenge of building a new county department “from scratch.” Today, the APD’s Office employs 300 lawyers, investigators, paralegals, clerical and administrative support staff.

Fukai serves on the board of numerous professional groups, including JABA’s Advisory Council. She also is the recipient of many professional and community service awards. “Janice Fukai is a leader and role model in the Japanese American and larger legal community,” said JABA President-Elect James Toma, “no person better exemplifies the spirit of public service and we are privileged to include her as a prominent JABA member.”

“I am honored and humbled to be recognized by JABA, an outstanding legal, educational and service organization in its own right, said Fukai. “My sincere thanks to JABA and the many public service role models in my life, including my late father, Mas Fukai.”

Fukai received her Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Southern California. After law school, Fukai served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Robert M. Takasugi (dec.), United States District Court Judge for the Central District of California, who was her mentor and advisor throughout her career. Fukai joined the Public Defender’s Office in 1980, where she rose through the ranks to Senior Trial Deputy and Special Assistant. Her work as a trial attorney is featured in the book “Public Defender, Lawyer for the People” by Joan Hewitt.